Front Page / Titelseite

ESA plans mission to smallest asteroid ever visited

ESA’s planet-defending Hera mission will set a new record in space. The asteroid investigator will not only be the first spacecraft to explore a binary asteroid system – the Didymos pair – but the smaller of these two worldlets, comparable in size to Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza, will become the smallest asteroid ever visited.

Earth’s atmosphere stretches out to the Moon – and beyond

A recent discovery based on observations by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, SOHO, shows that the gaseous layer that wraps around Earth reaches up to 630 000 km away, or 50 times the diameter of our planet

Hubble helps uncover origin of Neptune’s smallest moon Hippocamp

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, along with older data from the Voyager 2 probe, have revealed more about the origin of Neptune’s smallest moon. The moon, which was discovered in 2013 and has now received the official name Hippocamp, is believed to be a fragment of its larger neighbour Proteus.

Nasa’s InSight mission will target ‚Marsquakes‘

InSight will be the first probe to focus its investigations predominantly on the interior of the Red Planet. The lander – due to touch down in November – will put seismometers on the surface to feel for „Marsquakes“. These tremors should reveal how the underground rock is layered – data that can be compared with Earth to shed further light on the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. „As seismic waves travel through [Mars] they pick up information along the way; as they travel through different rocks,“ explained Dr Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator. „And all those wiggles you see on seismograms – scientists understand how to pull that information out. After we’ve gotten many, many Marsquakes from different directions, we can put together a three dimensional view of the inside of Mars.“

Opportunity’s mission is over, but InSight almost ready for a driller thriller below Martian surface

Unfazed by the outpouring of grief over NASA’s admission that its teenaged Opportunity rover had likely trundled its last, the agency’s lander, InSight, managed to position its second instrument on the surface of the Red Planet.

Time Perception Studies, Free-Flying Robotics on Station Schedule

The Expedition 58 crew is helping scientists today understand how astronauts perceive time and orient themselves when living in space. The orbital residents are also working on CubeSat and free-flying robotics hardware aboard the International Space Station.

Experimental Fuel Hardware, Astrophysics and Life Science Fill Crew Day

The International Space Station is hosting a robotic experiment that may help enable and refuel future missions to the moon and Mars. The Expedition 58 crew installed that hardware today then worked on a variety of life science, astrophysics and combustion science gear.

Spacesuit servicing and high-temperature physics kept the crew busy today aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 58 astronauts also researched meteorology from the station and explored more Earth phenomena from space.

Opportunity’s mission is complete. Here are highlights from its time on Mars.

After 15 years, the mission of NASA’s Opportunity rover has come to an end, but its successes on Mars have earned it a spot in the robot hall of fame. Here’s what you need to know about our intrepid Martian overachiever:

Ice giant surprise

Sitting beyond Jupiter and Saturn in our Solar System, these two planets have only been visited once by a spacecraft, albeit briefly. NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft swung by Uranus in 1986, and Neptune in 1989, snapping the only close-up detailed images of these distant worlds.

Politics / Politik

How Open Is NASA’s Open Lunar Architecture?

NASA held a media briefing session today at NASA HQ. The purpose of the briefing was to talk about the various lunar activities NASA is engaged in. Specifically there was discussion by NASA SMD AA Thomas Zurbuchen about the science and technology missions that NASA is planning.

Space Force Will Be Formalized Today

There was a White House media telecon this morning dealing with the signing of SPD-4 to create Space Force this afternoon at 2:00 pm ET by the President. According to the senior Administration official who spoke SPD-4 establishes United States Space Force. Space is integral to our way of life and modern warfare. Our adversaries are preparing ways to use space. Space Force seeks to deter aggression and protect our interests.

SPD-4 Signed Creating The United States Space Force

„Section 1. Introduction. Space is integral to our way of life, our national security, and modern warfare. Although United States space systems have historically maintained a technological advantage over those of our potential adversaries, those potential adversaries are now advancing their space capabilities and actively developing ways to deny our use of space in a crisis or conflict.

World / Welt

NASA’s Fourth Plan To Return Humans To The Moon

NASA invites media to its headquarters in Washington Thursday, Feb. 14, to learn more about agency partnership opportunities with American companies to develop reusable systems that can land astronauts on the Moon. Events will begin with a media roundtable at 12:30 p.m. EST with NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine, William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator of the agency’s Human Exploration and Operations Missions Directorate, and Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate.“

MAVEN Spacecraft Shrinking its Orbit to Prepare for Mars 2020 Rover

NASA’s 4-year-old atmosphere-sniffing Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission is embarking on a new campaign today to tighten its orbit around Mars. The operation will reduce the highest point of the MAVEN spacecraft’s elliptical orbit from 3,850 to 2,800 miles (6,200 to 4,500 kilometers) above the surface and prepare it to take on additional responsibility as a data-relay satellite for NASA’s Mars 2020 rover, which launches next year.

Nasa’s InSight mission will target ‚Marsquakes‘

InSight will be the first probe to focus its investigations predominantly on the interior of the Red Planet. The lander – due to touch down in November – will put seismometers on the surface to feel for „Marsquakes“. These tremors should reveal how the underground rock is layered – data that can be compared with Earth to shed further light on the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. „As seismic waves travel through [Mars] they pick up information along the way; as they travel through different rocks,“ explained Dr Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator. „And all those wiggles you see on seismograms – scientists understand how to pull that information out. After we’ve gotten many, many Marsquakes from different directions, we can put together a three dimensional view of the inside of Mars.“

Media resources | InSight

Homepage – InSight Media Resources

Further news / Weitere Nachrichten – Insight

Catalog Page for PIA23043

InSight’s robotic arm placed the special shield over its seismometer on the Martian surface to protect the instrument from wind and extreme temperatures. The green object in this image is the InSight lander; the white dot just below it is the shield, which is especially bright and reflective. The shield is a little less than 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from the lander. The dark circles on either side of the lander are its solar panels. The total width of the lander with both panels open is 19 feet, 8 inches (6 meters).

Wissenschaft auf der ISS

Cygnus Ready for Friday Departure and CubeSat Deployments

Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus space freighter is just a day away from completing its tenth mission to the International Space Station. The Expedition 58 crew is training today for Cygnus’ robotic release on Friday and preparing it for one more mission afterward.

Mind and Body Studies as Crew Finalizes Cygnus Packing

The astronauts onboard the International Space Station continued exploring today how living in space affects their minds and bodies. The Expedition 58 crew also researched fluid physics and prepared a resupply ship for its departure.

Astronauts Release U.S. Spacecraft from Station

The Cygnus is pictured moments after its release from the Canadarm2 robotic arm. Credit: NASA TV Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus spacecraft was released from the Canadarm2 at 11:16 a.m. EST and has departed the International Space Station. After an extended mission to deploy several CubeSats in multiple orbits, Cygnus is scheduled to be deorbited on Feb. 25 to enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up harmlessly over the Pacific Ocean.

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter recently caught a glinty glimpse of the Chang’e 4 lander, which on Jan. 2 became the first-ever spacecraft to make a soft touchdown on the moon’s mysterious far side.

ESA’s Mars rover has a name – Rosalind Franklin

The ExoMars rover that will search for the building blocks of life on the Red Planet has a name: Rosalind Franklin.The prominent scientist behind the discovery of the structure of DNA will have her symbolic footprint on Mars in 2021.

European Mars Rover Named for Crystal Scientist Rosalind Franklin

The European Space Agency (ESA) has named its next Mars rover, due to touch down on the Red Planet in March 2021, in honor of British scientist Rosalind Franklin, whose research was crucial to scientists‘ determining the structure of DNA.

SpaceIL’s historic mission to the moon with the Beresheet lander is expected to launch from SpaceX Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. It will be the first privately developed moon mission and you can see it here in photos!

Beyond Solar System / Milchstraße & Kosmos

Gaia clocks new speeds for Milky Way-Andromeda collision

ESA’s Gaia satellite has looked beyond our Galaxy and explored two nearby galaxies to reveal the stellar motions within them and how they will one day interact and collide with the Milky Way – with surprising results.

Kepler’s Final Image Shows A Galaxy Full Of Possibilities

This image taken on Sept. 25, 2018 by NASA’s Kepler space telescope is the final record of Kepler’s full field of view before the depletion of fuel permanently ended the work of this historic planet-hunting spacecraft.

Virgin Galactic Space-Flown Rocket Motor Donated to Smithsonian

The hybrid rocket motor that powered Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on its first flight into space will next be used to ignite public interest in the future of spaceflight as an artifact in the Smithsonian National Air and Museum’s collection.

Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo Pilots Awarded FAA Astronaut Wings

The United States now has two new certified Commercial Astronauts. Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo test pilots Mark „Forger“ Stucky and Frederick „CJ“ Sturckow were awarded Commercial Astronaut Wings by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The View from Space Could Change the World, Virgin Galactic Says

Orion Span Falls Far Short of Funding Goal to Support Its Commercial Space Station Ambitions

A startup with visions of developing private space stations raised only a small fraction of the funding it sought in a recent equity crowdfunding campaign, with no guarantee that it will be able to retain that funding.

ISS suffers another leak, but this time of the messy, non-dangerous, type

Around 11 liters of water leaked into the International Space Station (ISS) during work to prepare for the future installation of the Urine Transfer System (UTS). Although the incident was minor compared to the more worrying pressure leak caused by a hole in the since-departed Soyuz MS-09, it once again highlights the day-to-day maintenance required on the orbital outpost that will play into lessons learned ahead of crewed deep space exploration.

Nasa’s InSight mission will target ‚Marsquakes‘

InSight will be the first probe to focus its investigations predominantly on the interior of the Red Planet. The lander – due to touch down in November – will put seismometers on the surface to feel for „Marsquakes“. These tremors should reveal how the underground rock is layered – data that can be compared with Earth to shed further light on the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. „As seismic waves travel through [Mars] they pick up information along the way; as they travel through different rocks,“ explained Dr Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator. „And all those wiggles you see on seismograms – scientists understand how to pull that information out. After we’ve gotten many, many Marsquakes from different directions, we can put together a three dimensional view of the inside of Mars.“

Media resources | InSight

Homepage – InSight Media Resources

Further news / Weitere Nachrichten – Insight

InSight Milestone: Wind and Thermal Shield Placed Sol 66

InSight mission has successfully placed the wind and thermal shield over the seismometer. The seismometer will now be shielded from winds and kept warm over the cold Martian nights, so the quality of its data should dramatically increase.

InSight’s Seismometer Now Has a Cozy Shelter on Mars

For the past several weeks, NASA’s InSight lander has been making adjustments to the seismometer it set on the Martian surface on Dec. 19. Now it’s reached another milestone by placing a domed shield over the seismometer to help the instrument collect accurate data. The seismometer will give scientists their first look at the deep interior of the Red Planet, helping them understand how it and other rocky planets are formed.

International Spacestation (ISS)

Fiery Research Work and CubeSats Deployed Today

The Expedition 58 crew gathers inside the Zvezda service module for a portrait. From left are, NASA astronaut Anne McClain, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and Canadian Space Agency astronaut David Saint-Jacques.

Crew Wraps Up Biomedical Studies; Films Station in Virtual Reality

A pair of biomedical experiments are wrapping up today aboard the International Space Station as the Expedition 58 crew began its weekend. The orbital residents are also filming a virtual reality (VR) experience and working on plumbing and life support hardware.

Earth / Erde

Earth Looks Spectacular from Space in This Breathtaking Cosmonaut Video

From the International Space Station’s orbit about 250 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth, crewmembers enjoy unique — and stunning — views of our home planet, as new footage from the station shows once again.

Hubble fortuitously discovers a new galaxy in the cosmic neighbourhood [heic1903]

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to study some of the oldest and faintest stars in the globular cluster NGC 6752 have made an unexpected finding. They discovered a dwarf galaxy in our cosmic backyard, only 30 million light-years away. The finding is reported in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society:

See the Whirlpool Galaxy Through the Eyes of the NASA’s ‚Great Observatories‘

Three powerful space observatories reveal the Whirlpool Galaxy as a wonder of star formation and star death in a new video from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) that operates the Hubble Space Telescope.

Politics / Politik

CASIS Now Has An Official Fictitious Name

FYI @ISS_CASIS asked @NASA if they could change their name from „CASIS“ to „ISS National Laboratory“. #NASA said no – but Joe Vockley at CASIS did so anyway. Now his staff is scrambling to explain this unauthorized name change in time for the #CASIS annual meeting in DC next week

White House: Space Force Under the Air Force Only a ‚First Step,‘ Separate Department Not Off the Table

White House draft policy memo: After the Space Force is established, the secretary of defense has to conduct a „periodic review“ and recommend a timeline for spinning off the Space Force into its own military department.

A Reminder From China About Space Station Lifespans

After Chang’e-4 lunar probe successfully landed on the far side of the Moon, there has been considerable discussion among the US scientific community as to whether the US should embark upon a new cooperation with China for space exploration.

SpaceX’s Huge Falcon Heavy Rocket Will Launch On Its 2nd Flight in March

First Responders in Space: How Satellites Save Lives During Natural Disasters

If we are to save people from natural disasters, we must continue to invest in satellites that further our ability to see the planet, because satellites provide us with important information about our planet.

Science / Wissenschaft

Two Men Spent 340 Days in Space. Scientists Are Still Figuring Out What They’ve Learned

Between March 2015 and March 2016, a man spent a total of 357 hours being poked and prodded: sacrificing blood and urine, sweating through sprints and letting others read his journals — oh, and living on the International Space Station.

NASA Probe Snaps 1st Photos from Just a Mile Above Asteroid Bennu and the View’s AMAZING!

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is orbiting an asteroid closer than any spacecraft has ever orbited a body — and it shows in an incredible pair of photographs that the team released yesterday (Jan. 24). The spacecraft slipped into orbit around the asteroid, called Bennu, on Dec. 31, after the team carefully mapped the object to design a safe path for the probe. That was a challenge, since Bennu is the smallest space rock that’s ever been orbited.

Why are there no stars in most space images?

There are a few questions that we get all the time at The Planetary Society. Look up at space at night from a dark location and you can see innumerable stars. Why, then, do photos of things in space not contain stars? How come the black skies of the Moon contain no stars in Chang’e photos? The answer: The stars are there, they’re just too faint to show up.

Nasa’s InSight mission will target ‚Marsquakes‘

InSight will be the first probe to focus its investigations predominantly on the interior of the Red Planet. The lander – due to touch down in November – will put seismometers on the surface to feel for „Marsquakes“. These tremors should reveal how the underground rock is layered – data that can be compared with Earth to shed further light on the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. „As seismic waves travel through [Mars] they pick up information along the way; as they travel through different rocks,“ explained Dr Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator. „And all those wiggles you see on seismograms – scientists understand how to pull that information out. After we’ve gotten many, many Marsquakes from different directions, we can put together a three dimensional view of the inside of Mars.“

International Spacestation (ISS)

Hundreds of impacts crater ESA’s Columbus science laboratory

On 6 September 2018, the 17-metre arm attached to humankind’s most distant outpost began to move. Its instructions were to survey the spaceship’s European science laboratory for signs of impact damage from marauding bits of space rock or space debris.

Europe’s Space Station Module Has Hundreds of Tiny Dents from ‚Marauding‘ Debris

A new scan of an International Space Station module shows several hundred impact craters from „marauding“ debris, according to the European Space Agency. But so far, the hull of the European Columbus science laboratory is doing its job in protecting astronaut crews.

Cargo Ship Takes out Trash; Crew Works on Cygnus Preps and Science Hardware

International Space Station Configuration. Three spaceships are parked at the space station including the Northrop Grumman Cygnus resupply ship and Russia’s Progress 71 resupply ship and Soyuz MS-11 crew ship. A Russian cargo ship left the International Space Station this morning and was deorbited for a destructive demise over the Pacific Ocean. The Expedition 58 crew now turns its attention to the departure of a U.S. space freighter next month.

Russian Cargo Ship Undocks; U.S. Cygnus Leaves in February

Russia’s Progress 70 cargo craft undocks on time today from the Pirs Docking Compartment . A Russian Progress 70 (70P) cargo craft undocked from the International Space Station today at 7:55 a.m. EST loaded with trash and discarded gear. It will orbit Earth a few more hours before reentering the Earth’s atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean for a fiery but safe destruction.

Portions of Cuba, The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands are viewed from the International Space Station as the orbital complex flew 252 miles above the Atlantic Ocean. At left, is the aft end of the Progress 70 resupply ship from Russia attached to the Pirs docking compartment.

Changing How We Build Satellites Could Do More Than Reduce Space Junk

„Space is for everyone“ is a popular saying, but it rarely holds true — partly because space is expensive, and partly because certain countries have decades of a head start and established procedures to rely on.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has redesigned its active space-debris-removal demonstration mission concept e.Deorbit as a multipurpose, in-orbit servicing vehicle that could be used to refuel, refurbish or re-boost satellites.

Distant Ultima Thule Looks Amazing in Best New Horizons Photo Yet

NASA’s New Horizons mission has shared its most detailed view yet of the Kuiper Belt object nicknamed Ultima Thule. It’s become nearly impossible to remember that just a few weeks ago the object was a fuzzy blur.

Daily Sun

This montage of 365 images shows the changing activity of our Sun through the eyes of ESA’s Proba-2 satellite during 2018. The images were taken by the satellite’s SWAP camera, which works at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths to capture the Sun’s hot turbulent atmosphere – the corona, at temperatures of about a million degrees.

Curiosity Says Farewell to Mars‘ Vera Rubin Ridge

NASA’s Curiosity rover has taken its last selfie on Vera Rubin Ridge and descended toward a clay region of Mount Sharp. The twisting ridge on Mars has been the rover’s home for more than a year, providing scientists with new samples — and new questions — to puzzle over.

Scientists Prepare for Mission to Jupiter’s Icy Moon Europa

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is one of the most tantalizing worlds for exploration — which is why NASA scientists are deep in the process of designing Europa Clipper, a spacecraft meant to crack its secrets.

Beyond Solar System / Milchstraße & Kosmos

The Hubble Telescope’s Deep View of the Universe Is Now Even More Astounding!

One of the Hubble Space Telescope’s most famous images peered even deeper into the cosmos than scientists had thought. That photo is the Hubble Ultra-Deep Field (HUDF), which combines hundreds of images taken by the space telescope over multiple years into the deepest view of the universe ever created. The composite pic of a small patch of sky contains a whopping 10,000 galaxies, astronomers have estimated. (The HUDF also refers to that patch of sky, not just imagery of it.)

House Spending Bill Fires Warning Shot at James Webb Space Telescope

A new appropriations bill the House plans to vote on next week would provide $21.5 billion for NASA in 2019 but warns that any further problems with the James Webb Space Telescope could lead to its cancellation.

NASA Ready to Launch Back Into Action After Government Shutdown, Agency Chief Says

Just days after returning to work from five weeks of furlough, NASA employees convened for a town hall meeting with the agency’s administrator Jim Bridenstine today (Jan. 29) to discuss the implications of the longest government shutdown in history.

World / Welt

The European Space Agency ESA and ArianeGroup, as prime contractor of a consortium of Arianegroup, Space Application Services and PTScientists, have signed a contract to study and prepare ESA’s planned ISRU mission. In space, in-situ resource use (ISRU) is the practice of collecting, processing, storing and using materials found or produced on other celestial bodies (Moon, Mars, asteroids, etc.) to replace materials that would otherwise be brought from Earth.

Virgin Galactic Lays Off Staff as Test Program Continues

Suborbital spaceflight company Virgin Galactic laid off about 40 people earlier this month as part of a realignment of „skill sets“ in the company’s workforce as it prepares to shift into commercial operations later this year.

Active galaxies point to new physics of cosmic expansion

Investigating the history of our cosmos with a large sample of distant ‘active’ galaxies observed by ESA’s XMM-Newton, a team of astronomers found there might be more to the early expansion of the Universe than predicted by the standard model of cosmology.

Space Travel May Increase Astronauts‘ Susceptibility to Cancer

Lengthy space missions such as a journey to Mars may take a serious toll on astronauts‘ immune systems, a recent study suggests. Researchers analyzed blood samples from eight astronauts who served roughly six-month missions aboard the International Space Station. They found significant negative impacts on „natural killer“ (NK) cells, a class of white blood cell that knocks out cancer cells.

Saturn’s rings are ‚very young‘

We’re looking at Saturn at a very special time in the history of the Solar System, according to scientists. They’ve confirmed the planet’s iconic rings are very young – no more than 100 million years old, when dinosaurs still walked the Earth.

The rings of Saturn may be iconic, but there was a time when the majestic gas giant existed without its distinctive halo. In fact, the rings may have formed much later than the planet itself, according to a new analysis of gravity science data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft.

Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 Recovered, Collecting Science Data

The Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera 3 was brought back to full operational status and completed its first science observations just after noon EST today, Jan. 17. The instrument autonomously shut down on Jan. 8 after internal data erroneously indicated invalid voltage levels. The Wide Field Camera 3 was installed on Hubble in May 2009 during the last servicing mission. It has taken over 240,000 observations to date and is the most used instrument of Hubble’s current complement.

Genaue Startdaten von Boeings Starliner zur ISS stehen angeblich fest

China’s Moon Plants Are Dead

The moon is a lifeless world once again. The cotton plants that sprouted on the moon’s far side aboard China’s Chang’e 4 lander are dead, done in by the bitter cold of the lengthy lunar night, GBTimes reported today (Jan. 16).

Feature – ISS Horizions Mission Alexander Gerst

Horizons’ is the name of ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst’s second mission to the International Space Station.The mission name evokes exploring our Universe, looking far beyond our planet and broadening our knowledge. Alexander would also like to make people realise that there is always a chance to go beyond their personal horizons. Alexander will be launched on 6 June with US astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Prokopyev from the Baikonur cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in the Soyuz MS-09 spacecraft.Alexander will take over command of the International Space Station for the second half of his mission. Alexander Gerst is the 11th German citizen to fly into space. The astronaut is now in the last stages of training for his challenging spaceflight. The science programme is packed with European research: more than 50 experiments will deliver benefits to people back on Earth and prepare for future space exploration.

The wall of the world

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst reflects on his second International Space Station mission called Horizons by reading an excerpt of Jack London’s novel “White Fang” first published in 1906. Images show the launch into space on 6 June 2018, docking with the International Space Station, Earth views and scenes from Alexander’s six-month stay on the orbital outpost.

Nasa’s InSight mission will target ‚Marsquakes‘

InSight will be the first probe to focus its investigations predominantly on the interior of the Red Planet. The lander – due to touch down in November – will put seismometers on the surface to feel for „Marsquakes“. These tremors should reveal how the underground rock is layered – data that can be compared with Earth to shed further light on the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. „As seismic waves travel through [Mars] they pick up information along the way; as they travel through different rocks,“ explained Dr Bruce Banerdt, InSight’s principal investigator. „And all those wiggles you see on seismograms – scientists understand how to pull that information out. After we’ve gotten many, many Marsquakes from different directions, we can put together a three dimensional view of the inside of Mars.“

NASA educates Captain Kirk on weird blue light in Mars InSight photo

„No cause for alarm, Captain!“ That’s what NASA’s InSight mission team reported on Twitter Wednesday. William Shatner, Captain Kirk from Star Trek, had a pressing question for the space agency about a strange glow seen in an image from Mars.

NASA/JPL’s Emily Manor-Chapman on Mars InSight and girls in STEM

Emily Manor-Chapman is an engineer for NASA/JPL working on the Mars InSight mission that landed on Mars on November 26. The mission has been sending back pics from the red planet and is there to study what is below the surface. We chatted with Manor-Chapman about the mission and what they’re looking to find, as well as how she got into science and getting girls into STEM careers.

ISS-Umlaufbahn um 1,8 Kilometer angehoben

Astronauts Study Head and Eye Pressure, Wearable Body Monitor

Human research took precedence aboard the International Space Station today as the Expedition 58 crew explored how astronauts adapt to living in space. The orbital residents also performed more ordinary roles as computer technicians and plumbers.

Crew Studies Space-Caused Eye Pressure and Cultural Differences

The Expedition 58 crew focused again today on studying head and eye pressure changes astronauts experience while living in space. The crew then went on to more science hardware and life support maintenance aboard the International Space Station.

Tech Work and Life Science Ahead of Orbital Boost Today

Satellite and combustion technology are being worked on today aboard the International Space Station. The Expedition 58 crew also studied botany and psychology while the station raised its orbit in a planned reboost maneuver.

NASA has announced a crew change for Boeing Starliner’s first crewed flight, assigning veteran astronaut Mike Fincke to the flight after Eric Boe was pulled for medical reasons. The crewed test flight is due to launch in the second half of this year, assuming that an uncrewed test flight currently scheduled for the spring goes smoothly. Fincke will fly with NASA astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann and Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson, who previously flew for NASA.

Watch Ultima Thule Spin Like a Propeller in This Awesome New Horizons Flyby Video

The faraway object Ultima Thule spins into view in a dramatic new video captured by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft. New Horizons zoomed within just 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) of Ultima Thule in the wee hours of Jan. 1, pulling off the most-distant planetary flyby in spaceflight history. Ultima Thule lies more than 4 billion miles (6.4 billion kilometers) from Earth — 1 billion miles (1.6 billion km) beyond the orbit of Pluto, which New Horizons encountered in July 2015.

Fifteen years ago, early on the evening of Saturday 10 January 2004, over a dozen scientists crammed into a tiny, somewhat austere room at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) research centre in Berlin Adlershof to stare intently at two monitors. They were awaiting the first images from ‚their‘ experiment, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). Just over two weeks earlier, the Mars Express spacecraft, launched by the European Space Agency (ESA), had reached its destination and manoeuvred into a stable, elliptical orbit over the poles of the planet.

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft will try to collect a sample from asteroid Ryugu during the week of 18 February, mission officials said during a press briefing last week. Should problems arise, a backup week is available starting 4 March. The team is now considering two sample collection sites, the smaller of which is just a few meters across.

Beyond Solar System / Milchstraße & Kosmos

Ricocheting Black Hole Jet Discovered by Chandra

As a black hole spins, it can produce a tightly-wound column of material, or jet, blasting away from it. Cygnus A is a galaxy in the middle of a galaxy cluster that has such a jet shooting away from a supermassive black hole at its center. Data from Chandra reveal this jet has bounced off a wall of hot gas, then punched a hole in a cloud of particles. By studying jets like these, astronomers can learn more about how black holes influence their surroundings.

Shredded Star Leads to Important Black Hole Discovery

Astronomers using Chandra and several other telescopes have studied how a black hole ripped apart a star in a distant galaxy. They used this „tidal disruption“ event to measure the spin of the black hole, a fundamental property that has traditionally been difficult to measure. ASASSN-14li was first spotted as an outburst in optical light in November 2014. Chandra, XMM-Newton, and Swift observed the X-rays that were emitted as the stellar debris swirled toward the black hole.

In Photos: SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Launches the Last Iridium Next Communications Satellites

ESA’s detection expertise

What’s the difference between spotting asteroids in space, and debris objects in Earth orbit? At first, both look like tiny dots streaming across the sky, against a backdrop of twinkling stars. As part of its Space Safety & Security activities, ESA brings together experts in asteroid and debris detection, asking what these two vital fields have in common, and how they can protect us from hazards in space.

Planetary Deep Drill completes second field test

Honeybee Robotics has successfully completed a second round of testing on a next-generation drill that might one day burrow deep beneath icy planetary surfaces. The work, which took place in December 2018, builds on a 2015 Planetary Society-sponsored test, and paves the way for an ambitious drilling expedition in Greenland this year.

Israeli non-profit SpaceIL has shipped its privately developed Moon lander, Beresheet, to Cape Canaveral ahead of its mid-February launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The lander, which is one of at least three payloads on the mission, will spend two months traveling to the Moon ahead of a touchdown in Mare Serentitas this April.

Rocket Lab to Launch DARPA Satellite in February

Small launch vehicle developer Rocket Lab will launch an experimental satellite for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in February, the first of a planned dozen launches in 2019. Rocket Lab announced Jan. 22 that it will launch a small satellite for DARPAon the company’s Electron rocket from its launch site in New Zealand. That launch will take place in February, likely late in the month, Rocket Lab Chief Executive Peter Beck said in an interview.

A New Satellite Will (Safely) Drop ‚Meteors‘ Over Hiroshima

There’s a new satellite was just launched into space, and it was put there to drop „meteors“ over the city of Hiroshima. As Live Science has reported in the past, ALE, a Japanese company, has designed a system of small satellites loaded with pellets that should should glow brightly as they fall out of space, with different colors appearing as a result of different compounds burning up in the atmosphere (copper pellets would burn green; barium blue, and so on, including purple). The idea is that cities (or companies or individuals) might pay ALE big chunks of money to drop a handful of those pellets overhead, creating a sort of artificial, colorful meteor shower in the sky overhead.

Science / Wissenschaft

A rich harvest after one year, with 117 kilograms of lettuce, 67 kilograms of cucumbers and 46 kilograms of tomatoes Paul Zabel spent Christmas and New Year’s day at home in the Spreewald. The greenhouse project is continuing with a new AWI overwintering crew and remote operation from the DLR site in Bremen

History / Geschichte

Deep Space 1: Providing a Wealth of New Space Technology

Deep Space 1 (DS1) was a pioneering spacecraft launched in the late 1990s as part of NASA’s New Millennium Program. The primary goal of the spacecraft’s mission was to test dozens of new and groundbreaking technologies that were implemented in future missions, such as Dawn and New Horizons.